Lawsuit: Good Shepherd Services

From Baltimore, Maryland,”at least 26 individuals were sexually assaulted as children while housed at Good Shepherd Services, a former residential facility for foster care youth. The lawsuit was filed in the Maryland Circuit Court for Baltimore City by attorneys at Slater Slater Schulman LLP, a leading, full-service law firm with decades of experience representing survivors of traumatic and catastrophic events.”

“Originally opened in 1864, Good Shepherd Services operated until 2017 as a multi-use, state-run residential treatment facility for children in Halethorpe, MD. It housed children with behavioral health issues, as well as foster care youth sent through the Department of Human Services. It also served as a secure facility for children sentenced to correctional incarceration through the Department of Juvenile Services. The plaintiffs listed in the complaint were children between approximately 12 and 18 years of age who resided under the legal and physical custody, direct and exclusive control, and supervision of the defendants, who were responsible for their care and safety. As the complaint states, the State was aware of – and failed to take action to prevent – the sexual abuse perpetrated against children by staff members and clergy working at the facility, including both priests and nuns.

“The sexual assault of vulnerable teenagers by state employees is horrific, but the fact clergy were also complicit is one of the many truly sickening aspects of what transpired at Good Shepherd Services,” said Adam Slater, Founding and Managing Partner of Slater Slater Schulman LLP. “Children reported being raped and even drugged by staff members at the place where they were forced to live. Because of their negligence, the State failed to protect and provide the most basic right to the children of Maryland – safety.”

According to the complaint, one of the plaintiffs who had no family was sent to Good Shepherd Services for three years, where she was raped by two women employees on numerous occasions. When she was forced to attend confession against her will, she told the priest that she was afraid “God would be disgusted” with her. The priest proceeded to sexually assault her, and continued to assault her every two weeks for the rest of her stay at the facility.

The abuses at Good Shepherd Services were first reported on by The Baltimore Sun in 2013. The Sun reported that the state had issued four warnings to Good Shepherd Services since 2013, cited the organization several times in 2016, gave it a directed plan of correction, and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had also investigated reported incidents at the facility, including at least one sexual assault. One of the plaintiffs in the complaint told a therapist that she was raped by a staff member; he was fired shortly afterward. Another plaintiff was escorted out of the main building for informing visiting parents that sexual assaults occurred at the facility, only to fend off a sexual attack by the staff member who escorted her out.

The Maryland Child Victims Act was signed into law on April 11, 2023. The law allows survivors to file retroactive lawsuits, even if their claims have already expired under an existing statute of limitations. The law also eliminates the statute of limitations for all future lawsuits based on childhood sexual abuse claims.”

More Than Two Dozen Former Residents of Good Shepherd Services Allege Sexual Abuse by Nuns, Priests and Staff at Notorious Youth Residential Treatment Facility
[PR Newswire 3/12/24 by Slater Slater Schulman LLP ]

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